How did our solar system come to be?

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

At some point, part of the cloud

It all began about 4.6 billion years collapsed in on itself—possibly because
ago in a wispy cloud of gas and dust. the shockwave of a nearby supernova
explosion caused it to compress.

The result: a flat spinning disk of dust and gas.

Energy

Hydrogen When enough material collected at this disk’s

4.6 Billion Helium
center, nuclear fusion began. Our sun was born. It
Fusion
Years Ago gobbled up 99.8% of all the material.
Hydrogen

Energy

These clumps became planets, dwarf planets,

asteroids, comets, and moons.

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Nuclear fusion occurs d it: G e m i ni O b

This cloud was a small part of a when hydrogen

much bigger cloud. atoms fuse into
helium.
The material left behind
by the sun clumped Present
together into bigger
and bigger pieces.

Only rocky things could survive close to the sun, so

gaseous and icy material collected further away. That’s
how our solar system came to be the place it is today!

Comets and asteroids are

the left over remains of
the solar system’s
formation.

in a Snap!

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